Problems/experiences with Eurotronic Spirit radiator valves

ah, sorry for the noise

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@AlexW I had it on 1 for some time, currently on 2 but without any success. Will set to 1 again for now.
So others can really confirm that temperature reports work for you guys? I have no idea why two devices behave the same way and just do not work. I’m on openHAB SNAPSHOT but as outlined in the other thread I do not believe that openHAB has its part in that?

I found some references in the web where the setting 1 helped. I’m still not sure but will watch it.

A question (and please tell me if I should post in another category in a new topic):
In case I do not get it to work it seems that I always get temperature reports when I send a control command to the device.
Is there a way in openHAB to pull actively the device or do I need to send “fake” commands (like switching heating mode back and forth) every 10 minutes?

Dear all,

I use the Spirit and I also observe the strange behaiour that setting the thermostat to “OFF” sets the valve to zero for some seconds, and then the valve drives to some position between 6% and 11%.

Was anyone able to clarify this?

Is it possible that the valve cannot go to zero because of the calibration to the heatings’s valve closed position? It might be possible that zero is the set value for the valve which cannot be mechanically reached, and so at 6%-11% (in my case) the valve could be mechanically closed. So, after some seconds the valve reports this valve setting back. Could that be?

But this might only be true if the vale NEVER remains at zero which I have to check over time.

Normally the valve should calibrate itself during the installation process while mounting it to the heater.

When in OFF-state my spirits are always showing 0% valve opening. If your heater stays cold despite of the valve being shown as open, you might try to redo the first-installation-process.

If the heater gets warm, try to set the external temperature to 50°C or some other high number.

@Wolfgang_Rosenauer:

Try a rule like this:

rule "HeatingTimer"
when
	Time cron "0 */10 * * * ?"
then
	YourItem.sendCommand(11)
	Thread::sleep(3000)
	YourItem.sendCommand(1)
end

11 == setting the Spirit to OFF

1 == “comfort temperature”

What firmware version you have? Mine is 0.15 and I have the same problem as Tobias.

Sorry, but I do not use the valve anymore: It suffers from some issues (see e.g. Amazon reviews) where it suddenly fully opens without any obvious reason and does not close again.

Very annoying in case you are not at home at this occasion…

What did you use instead?

innogy Smart Home thermostats. The binding was just updated…

Do the innogy thermostats behave as desired? Are you happy with them?

Yes. Works very well!

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A few months ago, i finally scrapped my Spirit valves. Could not get them to close reliable (they were reporting a closed valve while it was actually fully opened quiet often). I switched to a system with Tasmota switches combined with regular electric valves. Much cheaper an works perfectly fine.

Conclusion: Don’t buy this crap! There are better and cheaper solutions.

Are there when DIY is not an option ? Which ones ?

Depends on the reason, why DIY is no option. Only downside I see is that you have to handle mains voltage. But for that, there are also valves with 12 or 24 V.

And on the long term, after transforming your home into a sauna for a few times, the spirits are not so cheap anymore.

No it does not depend on the reason. That statement by itself is nonsense.
There are many reasons against DIY, just for example if they’re to be used in someone else’s home rather than yours and that person does not want to use DIY like say my mom who’s living away some 100 km.

Let me rephrase my question:
Whenever DIY is no option, which thermostats would you recommend ?

I had the same issue, see Which heating thermostats work well?
I am currently using innogy valves. As their system has an unknown future, I would switch to Homematic IP which uses the same EQ3 hardware. Totally proprietary, but reliably works. I could not identify a reliable open alternative.

I run MAX!, i.e. same hardware, too. Reliability is ok but not great due to 433 MHz range limitation
(Homematic IP’s would then depend on your Wi-Fi’s range).
2nd issue they have is they don’t transmit temp update when you turn the handle (unless that manual turn also results in a valve opening to change which it does not necessarily do).
Do your Homematic IP ones transmit this ? Most users will consider this behavior to be a lack of reliability, too.

No, Homematic IP is not Wifi but 868 MHz. Currently, I still use innogy which uses BidCos - a derivate of the Homematic IP protocol.

As far as I can see, any turn on the handle gives an update of the set temperature at the innogy hub within few seconds, which is then sent to the binding.

But innogy shut down their hardware shop, and they announced to support Homematic IP components and Shelly in the future. I am a bit skeptical how they will earn money in the future. I think a monthly fee is unavoidable, but let’s see.

Homematic IP follows a double strategy for the hubs. You can operate a local CCU3 (legacy rule coding style, external (app) access costs an extra fee, openHAB binding available) or an Access Point (graphical coding, remote access is free, but only Home Assistant implemented a re-engineered binding).

Huh? I don’t use it but it’s “IP” isn’t it ?
What is that IP part good for if not to run it on top of an existing layer 2 network (Wi-Fi usually but also Ethernet) ?

It is an IP protocol. But not on an Ethernet physical layer, but on low power 868 MHz.

Similar to Thread and CHIP approaches which use Zigbee for the physical layer, but IP protocols as well.